Just as the Google vs Oracle Java lawsuit wraps up, both companies have been ordered by a judge to disclose any payments made to bloggers for their comments during the trial. Google has claimed it had none, contrary to Oracle’s assertions, and Oracle has ‘fessed up to one such financial arrangement itself.
Oracle has accused Google of “maintain[ing] a network of direct and indirect ‘influencers’ to advance Google’s intellectual property agenda”. But in its response to the court order, Google stated:
“Neither Google nor its counsel has paid an author, journalist, commentator, or blogger to report or comment on any issues in this case. And neither Google nor its counsel has been involved in any quid pro quo in exchange for coverage of, or articles about, the issues in this case.”
For its part, Oracle disclosed that it put copyright specialist Florian Mueller of Foss Patents on its payroll — but as a consultant, not a blogger. Google has already won this lawsuit, but Oracle still could theoretically appeal. It doesn’t look like there’s anything here to help them in that pursuit though. [CNET]